Curse of the Purple Monkeys
by Quarkie
Summary: Jack returns from a mission and realizes he has made a stupid, rookie mistake. Don’t mock alien planet curses. But if he can just buy Daniel sometime, maybe ...just maybe he get around it. Jack/Sam


_**Curse of the Purple Monkeys**_

"How difficult could it be?!" General Jack O'Neill yelled into the phone. "No, that was not a rhetorical question!" He looked up and saw Sam standing there waiting and waved her in, "Alright, within the hour. I'm serious."

"Everything alright, Sir?" Lt. Col. Sam Carter asked tentative of the odd hand gesture and his mood seemed tenuous at best. He grumbled something incomprehensible, "So…did you have fun, General? On P3X-895?" She asked, curious of his mission with Teal'c and hoping to pull him from his current administrative drudgery.

"Purple the Roman, Turn," he said without looking up from the paperwork he was signing.

"Okay," She laughed at his strangely cryptic response, but with no further explanation forthcoming, she became puzzled. He looked up at her equally confused.

"Mosaic peanuts had sleeping monkeys?"

"General?" Sam asked. She heard Daniel and Teal'c entering the conference room behind her.

"Icecave?"

"Daniel? Teal'c?" Sam called nervously without losing eye contact with General O'Neill. They immediately joined her in the General's office.

"What Sam? What's the matter?" Daniel asked concerned at the tone in Sam's voice.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, Danny? She's looking at me like I'm speaking ancient or something. I'm not doing that again, am I?" He asked suddenly alarmed.

"You do not appear to be speaking ancient, O'Neill." Teal'c confirmed and Daniel shook his head in agreement.

"I didn't think so." He said with relief, thankful that wasn't happening again.

"Well, what was that about purple peanut monkeys?" Sam asked confused.

Jack straightened the papers he was working on. "Goose tramps be running vest over tree I slipping mass," he responded.

"Did you hear that?" Sam asked Daniel and Teal'c; they nodded in affirmation.

"That's not ancient," Daniel expertly informed.

"Indeed," Teal'c confirmed.

"No kidding," Sam added.

"What?" Jack asked Daniel. "Why are you all looking at me like that?" He asked completely unaware of any problem.

Daniel looked thoughtfully at Jack for a moment, "Jack, tell Sam what time it is."

Jack looked down at his watch, "In dancing halibut." When he looked up he saw three stunned faces. "What? Am I off, Danny?" Jack looked back down at his watch, shook it and then listened to it. He realized, being a digital watch, it probably had no reason to tick, so he put his arm down, covering the watch and hoping no one else noticed.

"Have you had lunch, O'Neill?" Teal'c inquired.

"Of course I did, with you. You know that Teal'c. I mean really how could you forget eating an entire chicken? What is wrong with all of you?! Come on let's get started with the briefing." He picked up his papers and led the way to the briefing table, more aggravated with the distraction than concerned. They were all acting so strangely. Perhaps he would send them all to the infirmary. He could do that. He could do anything he wanted. He smiled smugly and took his seat.

Sam, Teal'c and Daniel followed him back out into the conference room slowly, watching him carefully.

"Have you heard about anything odd that happened on their mission?" Sam asked Daniel quietly.

"Nothing. Teal'c said everything went as expected. SG-10 was right. They have lots of naquadah and the treaty negotiations were a breeze."

"But he's talking nonsense."

Daniel raised his eyebrow, "He's talking nonsense?"

She stifled a giggle.

"Come on, people." Jack said irritably to the room.

"Loon," he nodded as Sam sat next to him.

She shot up before she was fully seated.

"What?" Jack asked looking around the table.

"You just called Sam a loon." Daniel informed Jack.

He looked at Sam cautiously and back at Daniel, "That's a bird."

"This is ridiculous. You need to go to the infirmary and be examined, Sir."

"Seven sapphire these Christmas dangling tails he labels no pencil who from Tuesday." Jack looked around the rest of the room. "What is your problem?! Would you all get on with it already?!"

"Jack, you do understand us, right?"

"нет." Sam looked at Daniel surprised that now he couldn't speak to Daniel either, but Daniel got it.

"Funny, Jack. Just answer my questions, in English."

"Funny, Daniel. I thought I was in charge around here." Then he looked at Sam for emphasis.

"Come on. Just cooperate for a moment." He whined.

"No."

"Jack."

"_Daniel_." He warned.

"Jack." Daniel pleaded.

"Dannnnieelll."

"Sir?"

"Lake. Good we know each other's names. None of you are making any sense!"

"I'm not making any sense?!" Daniel defended loudly.

"O'Neill, it appears you are unaware of the problem."

"The only problem I have is a 1500 briefing, that doesn't seem to be happening, and a 1900 hockey game in Denver. Tickets. Third row. And, unless we are under imminent attack from some slimy, inconsiderate system lord or I entered an alternate dimension where there is no hockey, God forbid, I intend on being there. Come on, people. Focus."

"Okay, so he can talk to Teal'c."

"Yes, he can talk to Teal'c, and you, and Star." Jack spoke agitated in third person.

"Oh, so you can't even say her name?"

"Laugh! Bullseye! Attention! Puck!"

"Nope, not one of those was Carter."

Jack looked at Daniel confused and up at Sam who hadn't said anything in what suddenly seemed like a very long while.

"Intentional?"

Sam shook her head. She didn't know what he just said, but the tone of his voice concerned her.

"Daniel?" Jack said suddenly concerned.

"Let's get you down to the infirmary, Jack."

"What can they do? I can't speak to my fish pan awning. How can that be a medical problem?"

"Jack, repeat what I say, okay?"

"Jack, repeat what I say, okay?" Jack antagonistically repeated.

"Dog."

"Dog."

"Gate Diagnostic Test."

"Gate Diagnostic Test."

"13th century archeological ruins."

"Jibberish."

"Come on, Jack."

"Come on, Jack."

"Sam."

"Ring."

"Nose."

"Nose."

"Samantha."

"Smiling."

"She."

"She."

"Her."

"Her."

"Carter."

"Sun."

"Female."

"Female."

"Woman."

"Galaxy."

"Girl."

"Girl."

"Second in Commander."

He turned to Carter, "Line cast be paddle, going?"

She shook her head again.

"Well most generic words are safe. Your name and references to you, Sam, appear to be off limits in addition to speaking to you."

Jack looked at Daniel oddly.

"Did you understand what I just said, Jack."

"I'm not an idiot, Daniel. I got it." He looked apologetically at Sam. "Chocolate sure sneezes." She tried to hold the laughter in. He looked down at his hands, "Have we had enough fun experimenting on me, yet?"

"Eating cake offered by strange women again, General?" Sam asked offended by this recent development.

He glared at her and she was reminded that he was still her commanding officer, "Sorry, Sir."

"Bear types we anyway …" Daniel looked at Jack concerned, "I was talking to you. I was only asking you to tell her." Jack said to Daniel frustrated.

"Okay, so relaying messages is out, too."

"Sir, you need to have Dr. Brightman check you out." Sam compassionately touched his arm.

"Penguins stay brick…damn…ack!." He realized he was still not understood from the look on her face, stood and left. "For crying out loud!"

"I think I should go with him," Daniel started to follow him.

"Daniel, wait. I'm sure he can find the infirmary alright. Teal'c, what happened on the last mission?"

Teal'c explained… they were a very nice people and the village was in close proximity to the gate. It was an ideal mission for General O'Neill to join him and SG-10 to discuss the treaty and try to expedite the negotiations. It was an uneventful mission.

"Well, obviously not entirely. There is something you're leaving out. What about the people?"

"They were very friendly. Sandeen was our liaison. They have a joint leadership situation. O'Neill had to negotiate with them concurrently. One is more of a spiritual leader and the other more administrative oriented. But they lead as one."

"How did the General work with them?" Sam inquired.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"Typical Jack O'Neill style?" Daniel asked rhetorically.

Teal'c bowed his head in affirmation. "He made numerous irreverent remarks regarding the structure of their government. Their culture highly values honesty. If one does not speak with an honest heart, they are afflicted with a curse."

"What kind of curse?" Sam asked curiously.

"They did not explain further."

Sam sighed, "Daniel, you check with SG-10. Maybe they heard more about it. If not, the two of you return with SG-10 and see if you can find out what happened more about this curse."

"Colonel Carter, O'Neill did not partake of any cake," Teal'c tried to reassure her.

Sam smiled and nodded. "Report back when you have something."

"Sure." Daniel assured her. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

Teal'c bowed his head.

Sam and Teal'c wandered up to the infirmary. "General O'Neill?" Sam inquired of a nurse.

"Stacking we're down a donuts." He came around the curtain to confront her.

"Yes, now I see the problem." Dr. Brightman came back over to him.

"No I'm fine, Doc. You just told me so. So, I am going to go to the Avalanche game, I mean back to work." He started to pull his jacket back on and addressed Sam, "Snufflelufagus."

"Sorry, General, I want to run a few more tests."

"But, Doc..."

"You just called Colonel Carter, Snufflelufagus."

"I don't even know what a Snuffleluf-a-what-ever is!"

"The woolly mammoth on Sesame Street," the doctor informed him.

Jack looked at Sam oddly and back to the doctor, "I don't know what you're talking about, Doc."

"Must have been in your sub-conscious. Ever watch Sesame Street, General?" The doctor asked, unaware of Jack's past.

"Not for sometime now." He said with a very subtle hint of sadness only audible to his friends.

Jack looked at Sam with a scowl, and she bit her lip. "I'm going to go call General Hammond?" She looked for confirmation from Jack, but he just closed his eyes and sighed, then fell back on the bed defeated.

He knew no good could come from a situation where the commander of the base could not speak to someone in his chain of command. He couldn't tell her to arm the self-destruct, disarm it, or even say Hi…and on top of it all he was going to miss his hockey game!

Sam called in Colonel Reynolds per General Hammond's instructions. Daniel could not find anymore information on base, so he and Teal'c gated out with SG-10. When Reynolds arrived on base, he sent Sam home. Daniel and Teal'c would most likely be gone for at least a day anyway. Maybe things would look better in the morning.

s-j-s-j-s-j

When morning came, Sam still wasn't certain what she should do. She had a lot to get done in the lab so she tried to view this as an opportunity to catch up. In a day or two it would be just another silly story to reflect back on and laugh about when they got together, but when she arrived, she was notified that she had been removed from Jack's command and therefore SG-1, for the time being. Throughout the day she couldn't help but wondered how all of them were doing? What had Daniel and Teal'c discovered? How he was doing? How long would this go on? Would this be the time their luck ran out?

Every time the klaxons went off Sam ran to the control room. She remained just outside so she wouldn't cause any confusion if he started babbling at a critical juncture. Daniel and Teal'c did not return that day though.

Sam grew wearier of the situation the next day, when they still had not returned. She sat staring at her computer screen, her chin resting in one hand as the other slowly punched at the keys on the laptop. She wished it could give her the answers she wanted, but knew they didn't know enough yet. She needed more information.

Jack came in and sat across from her without saying a word. They were both quiet. She started to focus better though and smiled when he started to play with a pencil… like old times. Her fingers danced on the keys and she felt productive again. He was thinking through the events of his last trip through the gate. It's never as simple as it seems, or maybe it was.

"_Well that was fun, six hours of negotiating." Jack smiled. "That was sarcasm, Sandeen." Jack turned back to look at the building, "That was sarcasm." He repeated, just in case the building could hear him. "Does that lying thing count out here?"_

"_It counts everywhere."_

"_I was just kidding, not fun. I don't like negotiating...more a man of action than words."_

_Sandeen shook his head slowly._

_Jack looked around, "I'm not going to get struck by lightning am I?"_

"_As you noted, you have corrected the situation. You will not be cursed."_

"_So, it's that easy?"_

"_Not always. We are given a limited time to self-correct; after all, we are not perfect."_

"_Ah, like the 5 second rule?"_

_Sandeen looked at him strangely._

"_Another strange concept on my planet involving food, but I think I get it. Thanks."_

"_You do not agree with our ways?"_

"_I just can't see the practicality of it. Everyone here is really okay with all of this?"_

"_Some find it harder to learn than others, but overall, yes. Our society values the lessons we have been taught and we seek to live as close to the truth as is possible. This is the way it has been for generations … You find it easier to be dishonest?"_

_Jack thought for a moment, "Sometimes it's necessary."_

"_Necessary!? I can understand that it might be easier, cowardly, and more convenient to some, but I cannot see the necessity. Give me an example."_

"_Okay, let's say one person does not like the other. Should that person say something or just try to do their best to get along?"_

"_There is no chance for reconciliation if the other is not aware there is a problem."_

"_Okay…"_

"There is someone with whom you have bad feelings?"

"_Sure, more than one… but it's not relevant to getting the job done."_

"_So you are able to work better without truthfulness?"_

"_Sometimes…… it's complicated."_

"_And, in personal matters you have an example you feel is justification enough to warrant such dishonesty?"_

"_Okay…let's say you work with someone for whom you have stronger feelings for than you are supposed to and so you can't be honest, or else you will endanger their career and all they have worked hard to accomplish, ….and…and…and maybe even the security of your very planet."_

_Sandeen looked at him oddly, "I can see that this is a complicated matter. And, you have such feelings for a co-worker and fear these feelings could endanger your planet?"_

"_Well, no… not me. A friend's problem," he said and winced back at the temple anxiously._

_Sandeen smiled mischievously, "Well, I believe your friend dishonors this person's wisdom in making the choice that it best for them."_

"_Yeah, I'll tell him."_

"_It is my experience that dishonesty leads to infinitely more complications than the simple truth."_

"_Simple truth, huh?" Jack sighed, "Oh, looky there's the gate. Wormhole's established. Well, it's been interesting and …enlightening, but time to go.." Jack said quickly as they approached the gate._

_Sandeen looked at him concerned, "May your spirit of honor continue to bless you."_

"_Ahem, ummm. Thank you." Jack thought of the difficulties that would arise if he had to be completely truthful in all he did and said. Life would be very different. He thought of all that would be lost. Honesty was not that simple. Then he lied to himself once again dismissing the conversation in his head with a reminder that there was nothing to contemplate._

After a while, Sam looked up and their sad eyes met. "Hi," Sam finally greeted.

He thought about waving, but experiments in the infirmary with sign language had not been encouraging. He thought he might risk some offending gesture instead, so he kept his hands occupied. Heck he didn't even know if he had just smiled at her or scowled.

"Are you okay, Sir?" She looked to his eyes for any clues to his state. They expressed a sense of deep frustration and she felt there was a good chance that was at least accurate, "I'm sorry."

He felt bad about the situation; after all she had nothing for which to apologize. He was the one at fault here. The planet had similar terrain to that of the wilds of Minnesota and he was lost in the comfort that's its familiarity bred. His mind kept wandering to his cabin and his hopes that someday he would get her to go with him. When Sandeen asked the question, he blurted out the issue closest to the surface at the time.

"Any news from Daniel and Teal'c?" Surely they must have checked in, but no one had informed her.

She thought he might have nodded, but wasn't sure. She wouldn't be able to get anything more out of him.

He sat there in her office, just looking at his hands trying to figure out a way around this disaster.

"You could try to write it down?" He nodded his head. "Here," she handed him a piece of paper and a pencil. He looked at her oddly, which turned apologetic. "That doesn't work and neither does nodding and shaking your head?" Still apologetic. "Charades?" No response. She let out a deep sigh.

"Maybe there is something I could do to help Daniel-" But, then she remembered not being under his command meant she couldn't go off-world.

He looked up again apologetically, but this time mixed with more frustration. He had tried to prevent this from happening in his discussions with Hammond. She shouldn't be punished for his inability to communicate with her. But, apparently the Air Force is a stickler about commanding officers needing to be able to communicate orders to their subordinates.

He hit the desk, stood up and ran his hand through his hair. His frustration was well communicated that time.

"Don't worry it's alright. It's only temporary." She appeased. "I have a lot of lab and paper work to catch up on. We'll fix this soon. I'm confident." She reassured him, but in truth she had gotten pretty good about delegating her lab work. Now she was starting to take on projects instead of passing them along out of shear boredom.

He knew she was just trying to assure him. She was not behind on any paperwork. He was void of communicating with her and couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't be certain to express even the simplest message to her. At first it was nice to just be there with her, but she needed more from him, something more he couldn't give. Damn if that didn't sound familiar. He took in a deep breath of frustration and left, not even confident in his ability to communicate a goodbye.

Dr. Brightman had tried sign language with him and he was fine until he tried to spell Carter and it came out duck. He could only imagine what goose chase Charades would lead to. But he couldn't even explain that to her. He couldn't speak to her, write her a note, or even gesture. He felt isolated from her. He felt cursed. He closed his eyes. He was cursed. A ladder resting against the wall near Carter's lab was sent flying down the hall as he passed.

Sam jumped when she heard the ladder crash up against a wall and fall to the floor. She closed her eyes and hoped Daniel had found a remedy to the situation by the time he returned.

Jack picked up the phone and called George, again.

"Hi, George," man it is amazing the simple things you could take for granted.

"I already told you, Jack-"

"But, I should be the one removed from the situation, not rock."

"Boy," Hammond chuckled. "This is not something you can get used to in only a few days."

"George!"

"I appreciate your situation here, but you are responsible for a lot of people there. Colonel Carter is one person. She can work in the labs and make her contributions, until this issue is resolved. As long as you can not speak to her she can not take orders from you. If it interferes with your other responsibilities, then I may need to remove you, Jack. But the reports I have received from Dr. Brightman indicate that this problem is just between the two of you….What I mean is-"

"I know what you mean, sir. I could resign."

"I'm sorry, Jack. I won't accept it. Colonel Carter is a valuable member of the SGC. I'm sure this will be resolved in good time."

"Yeah," Jack said not so confidently.

"None of us likes it when we cause problems for others; this is the way this one is going to play out for now. Keep me posted."

s-j-s-j-s-j

"Walter, where the hell is Daniel?" Jack bellowed.

"He isn't scheduled to check in for another hour, Sir."

"Thanks, Walter."

"Yes, sir."

He picked up the phone and slammed it down.

"Walter!"

Walter turned around and returned, "Yes, Sir."

"Get…." he paused nervous of what would come out.

"You want Colonel Carter to run a diagnostic of the gate?" Walter asked.

"Yes." Jack threw the papers down.

Eventually work distracted Jack from his exasperation. That was until Sam walked into his office. "The Gate's fixed, Sir." Sam offered, handing him the updated report. "Daniel have anymore information about this 'curse'?"

Jack looked away.

"I guess not. I wonder what it could be." She wondered aloud. "These things usually have a technological component. I wish I could go and take a look around. Must have an EM signature we could trace. Have you had any luck thinking about what could have caused this?"

He was caught off guard by the question, but he wasn't sure what he expressed with her here. He hoped she couldn't read him right now, because if he were truly honest with himself he knew what happen. It would mean he had made a very stupid, rookie mistake. Don't mock alien planet curses. He closed his eyes and shook his head; at least he thought he had.

The guilt in his eyes said more than the unreliable movements of his head, "It was something you did on that planet, wasn't it?" She couldn't get an acknowledgement from him. She wouldn't be able to trust it even if she did, but he wasn't pushing her out of the office either.

"You did something." She accused. "Sir." She added to soften the accusation.

He tried to look offended.

"I'm sorry. I'm just getting impatient." She smiled apologetically.

Jack's head fell to the desk.

"Sir?"

"Giggle boat."

She laughed. It was nice to laugh, but probably not appropriate. She was just so frustrated.

He looked up, happy to hear her laugh again.

But what she saw was a look of warning on his face and she pierced her lips to try and stifle the laugh, "If that's all, I'll go now. Dismissed?"

His head again hit the desk. He couldn't even enjoy her smile for a moment without scaring her off.

s-j-s-j-s-j

Sam's run to the control room was not in vain. Daniel and Teal'c finally returned. She heard Jack tell them that the debriefing would be at 1400, as the time drew closer she was surprised that she had not been notified.

Sam showed up to the briefing room at 1405 just to drop off some paperwork and get invited.

Daniel smiled awkwardly and she wasn't sure but Teal'c seemed to avoid looking her in the eye. She was definitely getting paranoid.

Daniel looked to Jack who nodded and then Daniel invited Sam to sit down.

"So as I was saying…turns out that you offended their god, Jack. It seems most likely that you were not earnest at some point. Their god, and this is a funny one, Jack…Okay, maybe not funny to you, but you have been a victim of this god before. Do you remember Loki?"

"That weasely little Asgard that copied me?" Jack asked aggravated.

"The very one."

"Apparently, he had become frustrated in trying to deal with the people on this planet. They were unreliable, and they lied really just for the fun of it. So Loki made it so that anyone not in earnest within the town would be cursed. As time passed their culture learned to value honesty, strictly for survival at first, but over the generations it has become a highly revered custom."

"The General was not earnest about trade negotiations so he can't talk to me?" Sam asked incredulously.

She looked skeptically at Jack and he looked away. He wished it were that simple.

"No, it's…." Daniel looked to Teal'c and then to Jack. "You know, Sam I'm not entirely sure why. I really need some more time to get a firm grasp on the translations. There are some cultural subtleties I am having difficulty with. I think it's because their historical records are as unreliable as their ancestors were. I need a little more time, before I make any guesses here." Daniel got up quickly and left the room before Sam could question him further, but she did not miss the apologetic looks Daniel and Jack exchanged as he exited. She wanted to challenge them, but decided to let Daniel off the hook…..for now. Then again he had already had two days.

Jack slid over a report from SG-7 regarding a malfunctioning device. It was the best he could manage to distract her from Daniel.

"I'll look into it." She said after reviewing the report.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief when she left in a different direction from Daniel's departure, then rose and made his way after Daniel.

Jack casually entered Daniel's office. "Well, you sure took your time."

"Sandeen was very helpful. He said that the negotiations went very well and that they were appreciative of our generous trade agreement. He referred to you as a man of great honor and integrity."

"Yeah?" Jack looked down ashamed.

"Yeah, he also explained that the curse only applies to the subject of the dishonesty."

"Daniel!" Jack warned him.

"Jack, you need to tell her. You can fix this. If you don't-"

"Without risking her status here at the SGC? Do you want to be the reason she gets transferred or her record questioned? Besides how would you suggest I have this talk with her, since I can't talk to her?"

"There is only one way I know of."

"Find me another way, Daniel. Come on, there has to be some loop hole in all this stuff. Can't we call Thor and have him turn the damn thing off?" Daniel shook his head. "Give it another day, maybe two; you'll find a way. I know you will. You've never let me down."

"Jack," Daniel felt torn. "It's already happened. There is nothing to turn off. There are no loop holes. Once it's done-"

"It's never that simple. We always find another way. Maybe Thor can undo it or reverse it. Hell, send a science team and see if they can reverse the stupid machine."

"Sam's probably the only one who could, maybe-"

"Can't, not allowed to let her through the gate until this is resolved."

"Well that's just as well. Sandeen refused to let us take a look at it. I'm not even sure if they know where _it_ is. So, I guess you'll just have to-"

"Daniel!" Jack took a moment to regain his composure. "Trust me, this can't go on record. So you need to find me a loop hole, that doesn't involve Pier." He said seriously and somewhat desperately.

"You mean Sam?"

"Whatever!" his control began to slip again. "Please. Find me another way and I'll get you your own coffee maker."

"I already have one, Jack."

"A pony?" Daniel shook his head. "Please, Daniel?" Jack stopped and looked Daniel square in the eyes, his desperation was unmasked. "Don't make me do it. Don't make me say that and have to walk away again. I don't think I can do it."

Daniel felt for him and he knew what he was referring to. Janet had told him what had happened at the end of the Za'trac testing and Jack's heart seemed broken before him, "I'll see what I can do, but if I can't?"

"You will."

"You know, maybe it would be for the best if-"

"I can't…. there are destructive, irreparable consequences if I do, Daniel."

Daniel nodded, reluctantly.

Jack left and decided that today would be a good day to spar with Teal'c.

"Oh, don't you start with me too." He complained.

"I have said nothing." Teal'c defended himself against the verbal as well the physical attacks.

"You're looking at me with that…that look; I know what you're thinking." Teal'c backed out of the way of Jack's swing. "Daniel, will find another way." They continued sparing for a while in silence. "You know I'm just trying to…" he stopped unable to justify this to Teal'c. Teal'c saw an opening and hit him square in the jaw.

"You believe you are acting in the best interest of all concerned. That you are protecting your friend."

"Yes," he said getting his balance back and nodding almost imperceptibly as he looked around to make certain the room was empty.

"Colonel Carter is a formidable woman."

"I know…. It's just that…. I've made things difficult in the past and she's happy… with him." Jack referred her relationship Pete. "Daniel's a bright guy; give him a couple more days."

Teal'c looked at him with reservation.

"He'll find a way. I'm sure he will." Jack added.

s-j-s-j-s-j

"Teal'c there you are, I've been looking for you." Sam ran up to catch up with him. "Have all of you been avoiding me?" She said in jest, but the very subtle guilty look she witnessed surprised her and it took her a moment to regain her composure. Teal'c raised an eyebrow at her accusation and she continued, now embarrassed that her paranoia was getting so out of control. But that is the nature of being paranoid, "So have you heard anything? Daniel find anything, yet? I can't seem to catch up with him either since you two returned."

"Daniel Jackson is quite knowledgeable; we should give him some more time." She wondered at his odd choice of words and the rehearsed sound of his tone.

"Okay… Did you find a device? Loki must have left some sort of device. There has to be a way to manipulate it to undo the curse. I have a lot of experience with Asgard technology."

"We were denied access to the device. I believe Daniel Jackson will find a solution. Good day, Colonel Carter." He ended the conversation, closing the door to his quarters between them and left Sam feeling that something odd was definitely going on.

Sam knocked on Jack's door. "Sir?" she started. He looked up and she quickly realized the futility of a conversation. "Nevermind, I'm just going to go, General." She tried to be respectful, in the absence of his ability to dismiss her.

s-j-s-j-s-j

For the next few days Sam kept mostly to the labs; her colleagues seemed grateful to have so much time to work with her. It was nice to be appreciated. None of the people she had come to view as her closest friends ventured down to visit with her, and she had not seen any of them at lunch. The first three days she managed to track down both Daniel and Teal'c once or twice to see what new information they had. But Daniel just kept saying that there was a lot to translate and he needed to get back to work if he was going to resolve the issue. Teal'c would reiterate his confidence in Daniel. But nothing seemed to be developing.

She watched the days pass and her missions handed off to other teams or scrubbed one by one. She briefed each new team as needed.

"Colonel Carter?" She looked up half expecting she had imagined that he had come to her lab.

"Teal'c, what are you doing here?" She asked irritably. None of them had bothered to come and see her since they had returned. It had been four days since she had seen any of them. Still she looked down ashamed at herself. In all their years, he had never given her a reason to believe he could be dishonest with her. Here she was making all sorts of accusations of him. She was sure it was the isolation she was feeling. No longer feeling a part of SG-1, her friends were so busy, while she waited….

"I would like to take some time off to see my son while SG-1 is on down-time."

"Oh, you'll need to talk to the General about that Teal'c. I'm no longer the SG-1 team leader." Teal'c watched her choke back her tears and walk back to her desk. He felt disappointed in himself that he could be a part of this deception. All of them knew what was going on, they all had an idea of what had happened, and they knew how it needed to be resolved. Jack had asked for just a little time for Daniel to find another way, and the little bit of time had now turned into a week. He could no longer be a party to the deception, but he could not betray his friend either. Now however, his loyalty to one friend had come at the betrayal of another friendship.

s-j-s-j-s-j

"Come in, T." Jack invited.

"Colonel Carter informs me that I am to request my leave from you. That she is no longer the commander of SG-1."

"It was Hammond's decision. I told you that." Jack defended himself.

"Indeed."

"Hey, don't indeed me."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"Go ahead." Jack waved him off. "I don't need you for anything right now."

Teal'c bowed and made to take his leave.

But, Jack stopped him, "Teal'c…umm…this doesn't have anything to do with-"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow challenging Jack to say it out loud.

"Nevermind." He already knew and didn't want to hear it from anyone else. Jack had put him in a difficult position.

s-j-s-j-s-j

By the ninth day the insecurities and paranoia from the isolation had her second guessing what her instincts were screaming. Her somewhat idle mind, gave way to an active imagination. She thought about the different things Jack could have been dishonest about. They were there discussing the treaty and how people there must lead with an honest heart and she wondered if perhaps he did not have the confidence in her he had expressed…perhaps he did not believe her capable of leading SG-1. She found herself reviewing her command decisions, even reading through old reports. Which led her to the tenth day. When she finally grew tired of the exercise, she fought the insecurities and made it to Daniel's office.

"Daniel?"

"Oh….hi, Sam." Daniel responded surprised to see her.

"So, how's it going?"

"Oh, nothing yet. Something else came up that I had to give priority to. Sorry, I needed a break anyway. But, I will be getting back to it tomorrow."

"A break?! Tomorrow?!" She tried to restrain herself. "Can I look at your research?"

"Ummm, can I get that to you later? I'm not really at a good stopping place and I would have to pull it together for you." He said barely looking up from his current project. "But, maybe tomorrow. Can you come by tomorrow…say in the afternoon?"

She bit her lip. "Daniel?"

"Yeah, Sam?" He said hoping he was not being obvious.

Her insecurities crept back in, "Nevermind." She walked out.

He winced. He was tired of lying to her. There was nothing else he could do. The translation was clear and she would see that if she saw his work. And, then she would know. Not only had Jack lied, but he and Teal'c had conspired with him. This had all gotten out of hand. It was ridiculous. How had it escalated to this level of deception in his short time?

s-j-s-j-s-j

The next day she discovered Daniel was off-world and decided her time might be better spent at Area 51 for a few days. Maybe work there would take her mind off of all of this and help her get her bearings back. The General readily agreed; or the quick response from Walter seemed to indicate that he did.

s-j-s-j-s-j

When she returned, there was still no news. Not a note, an email or phone message saying: we're still trying, I'll let you know…not anything new yet, or even a how are you holding up. Nothing that she had come to expect from her work and life with these friends? But her time at Area 51 had helped her to get back to her usual self. She was reminded of the woman that had attained Lt. Colonel Carter, commander of SG-1. The one that had saved the world numerous times. The one that saved their lives time and time again. She wasn't going to let her doubts and insecurities get in the way of getting her command back.

"Daniel, you have to go back. You must have missed something." Sam burst in Daniel's lab – more a vision of her former self than he had seen since this started and that made him very nervous.

"Sam…. look, I'm… I'm doing the best I can."

"I'm sure you are." She felt it creeping back in and struggled to fight against the nagging doubts, and keep a clear mind. "I'm sorry, Daniel. This is just driving me crazy. I don't mind working in my labs and at Area 51, I just feel so…." She looked confused suddenly.

"So what, Sam?"

"So…..I….you know helpless. Convince the General and these people to let me take a look at the device. Please, come on. You know if anyone has a chance-"

"Sam, we have to be careful. This is a sacred area to them. I am working on it."

Sam eyed him skeptically, "You're lying to me, Daniel." There was no question in her voice. The uncertainty that had plagued her these nearly past two weeks had been vanquished. Daniel looked back at her embarrassed and somewhat afraid. "Daniel?!"

"Sam, I…..I … am not! This is a sacred area where they come together. It's- and I am trying-" he avoided eye contact.

"You are lying to me!" She stumbled a little in disbelief. "You all have been avoiding me! That's why Teal'c left. You know what happened, don't you? What's going on? Why are you doing this to me, Daniel? I thought you were my friend." Sam choked back the tears. She was indignant but would not cry in front of someone who had betrayed her so. But, one leaked out because it was Daniel of all people and she trusted him more than probably anyone she had ever known.

Her last statement tore a hole in Daniel's heart and the tear was just too much. He couldn't protect Jack anymore. "Sam-"

Jack cleared his throat in the door way. He had considered running away when he heard her yelling at Daniel, but seeing as Daniel was protecting him, he thought he had better not be a coward…any longer. He had already made Teal'c so uncomfortable, he had made excuses to visit his son. This was getting out of hand. He was only trying to buy time.

"Sir," Sam said quietly as she turned away from them to wipe the tears from her face.

Daniel was relieved to see Jack. At least he had hoped he would be spared. He found it ironic that they were all lying about an incident that was caused by a lie. All seemingly harmless white lies that were hurting Sam. Although he didn't know what lie in particular had started it. He had an idea.

Jack made his way into the room. If his face accurately expressed his feelings at this moment, he would be looking guilty, but he was uncertain what he expressed in her presence.

Sam saw guilt in his eyes. She looked back at Daniel, who confirmed this little conspiracy, by finding the floor so damn fascinating at the moment.

"General?"

"Hold seven you..." he started. "Daniel, go ahead."

He looked up at Jack, "You sure?"

Jack shook his head, closed the door and took a seat around Daniel's work table. Grateful he could not form the words to explain this to her, but ashamed about having to let Daniel do it at the same time.

Sam sat down and waited. "Well, ummm. From what I have been able to determine the curse is directly related to the subject of the dishonesty."

Sam looked at Jack confused. "He said…?" she started but didn't know what to ask or if she wanted to know.

"That, I don't know." Daniel looked at Jack, "Only that you don't actually have to say it out loud. It's sort of like a lie detector or a Za'trac detector." Both Sam and Jack suddenly found the floor fascinating. "Only it's Asgard so its effects are much greater."

"The device-?"

"That's a deal breaker. I didn't lie about that. No one is allowed near the device. We've tried every angle to negotiate access. This has transformed their culture and they are not willing to risk it for anything. But an admission of the truth within their temple can reverse the curse."

"You all knew since you got back." Sam looked at Daniel and then at Jack.

Daniel shook his head, "I was trying to-"

Sam got up and walked out.

"You know this is really ironic. That their culture…"

Jack got up and walked out, but she was too far ahead of him to stop her.

"Fish!" he yelled down the long corridor.

The command in his voice stopped her in her tracks. The word his subconscious chose painfully rippled though her.

She remained where she was, but did not turn around. So he ran up and turned to face her. The tears, hurt and anger he saw on her face were pretty much what he expected.

He thought he was doing the right thing. He thought he was protecting her and her career and ended up taking her command from her, isolating her from her friends and making her doubt herself.

Daniel came up behind her. Jack looked up. "Let them know we're coming back. Gear up." He looked back down at Sam, "I can't even be like water password going over a giant…."

She had no idea what he had said, but felt that it was finally almost over as she left to get ready.

s-j-s-j-s-j

Sam and Daniel waited in the Gateroom for Jack to arrive.

"Sam, I'm sorry. I really thought-"

"Best of intentions, huh, Daniel?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry."

Jack walked into the Gateroom as the wormhole established. Sam was already walking up the ramp and left the two of them standing there.

"She's never going to forgive us, Jack."

"She's going to hurt me a lot more than you two, Daniel. She just needs some time." The extent of those words ripped through Jack as the wormhole pulled him apart.

Daniel looked at him dubiously as he followed him through.

It was a beautiful planet... she thought when she stepped through. The area around the gate actually seemed landscaped. A gentleman in a fancy robe approached her anxiously, but seemed to look more at ease when Jack and Daniel stepped through after her.

"General, Dr. Jackson. How good it is to see you."

"Sandeen, thank you for allowing us to return. This is Colonel Carter. We have a favor to ask of you."

"I have already told you. It is unacceptable." Sandeen lifted his hand to emphasize their position on the device.

"Sever, door cat circling was green…." Sandeen looked oddly at Jack.

Daniel and Sam looked from one to other. "He can't speak to Colonel Carter or to you either, Sandeen." Daniel explained, now confused himself.

Jack looked even more guilty.

Sandeen looked to the General and then to Colonel Carter, awareness dawning, "Certainly. I believe you wish to use of one of our small private rooms?

They arrived at the entrance of the temple. "You must leave your weapons out here. This is a sacred place. Weapons are not needed when hearts are pure," Sandeen commanded.

Sam looked at Jack in disbelief, but he had already been here and was removing his P-90 and vest.

"I'll wait here." Daniel offered.

They left their weapons with Daniel and headed inside. Sam nervously straightened her shirt, looking around at the stately entry way. The colors were rich. Large scale artwork hung on the walls and serene-faced statues lined the perimeter.

"You understand that complete honesty is required of all for the curse to be lifted." He explained as they made their way through the lavish temple bordered with stately columns to a small, rather intimately decorated private room with plush rugs. Then they were left alone to chat.

Jack was quiet, gathering his thoughts on how to start. Sam waited nervously. Afraid of what he would say. She was looking at a statute on one of the side tables of a woman with her arms stretched out wide before her, as if embracing the world. Her face was pure contentment, nothing holding her back from pure happiness. She envied it, a piece of marble with more peace than she had ever possessed.

"Hard to imagine living in a society where you had to be honest about everything you said and felt." She turned and he looked at her to try and gauge her comprehension.

"That would be…oh yes, I can understand you." She acknowledged, smiling gratefully.

"Good." He paused thoughtfully. "It would be impossible for me in particular to live in that world, this world." He was quiet, wondering how far he had to go before they could leave this place.

"Why did you lie?"

"I thought I was protecting you," he looked at the floor and closed his eyes. "…or rather both of us... I guess. There are rules and regulations that we live by. Not living by them means that someone gets punished, hurt, or worse."

"Like being removed from their command?"

He looked away again ashamed. "Look, I'm not proud of my actions over the last couple of weeks. I tried to resign or get Hammond to transfer me. I never meant to pull the boys into this." But, she turned away still frustrated. "I never meant for it to go that far. I was just trying to buy Danny some time."

"So you wouldn't have to face me?"

"So this wouldn't go on record."

"It's just the two of us here." She noted as she looked around.

"Why did you call me Jack when you came back with a concussion on the Prometheus?" he blurted out.

She looked away embarrassed, unprepared for the conversation to take this turn.

"Do you love him more than you love me?" The second question he asked her had surprised him as much as her. He never meant to ask her any questions, but here they had to be honest with one another. And, he couldn't let that opportunity pass. He had to know. Even if he had to hear her say that she loved Pete more. Perhaps that was what he really needed to hear to let her go.

"That's not fair, Sir."

"Now you have to answer just as many questions as I do to get out of here."

"So you're going to punish me even more?"

"I wasn't punishing you in the first place. I never wanted this. I was surviving just fine."

"Surviving?"

"Yes, surviving. What you do when you have to-"

"What were you thinking about that started this?"

"That I would have ruined one or both of our careers a long time ago."

"Why?"

"Because being honest with you would mean…." he stopped himself unable to say the words.

She looked down and finished for him, "Would mean we couldn't work together anymore."

"Yeah. Not to mention that I probably would have lost you as a friend as well and possibly ruined your reputation. I couldn't bear any of that." He turned, frustrated that he had to admit even this much. "This is so messed up, this thing they have going on here." He raised his arms to the room.

"Seems to work for them…..So that's what you said, what you were thinking about?"

"It was a little more specific." She waited. He went over and opened the door. "Everything?" Sandeen shook his head in affirmation. "Damn." He closed the door. Then realized gratefully that he could speak to Sandeen in here as well.

"Want to know what I'm thinking right now?"

"Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea."

"Why did you call me Jack when you woke up?" he asked walking toward her.

"You first. What got you into this mess? What were you thinking about?" she pleaded.

He took a deep breath. He was close to her now and he could feel her nervous tension. What would she do…say. "I don't want to lose you."

"You can't," she reassured him. "Unless you continue to lie to me."

He took another deep breath and started what he had managed to reconstruct of the thoughts in his head walking through this place during the breaks in negotiations. "I was thinking that….that if you knew….that I…." He looked out the window. This was a peaceful, retreat-like place in the hills, it had reminded him so much of Minnesota and it broke down some of the barriers he had created in order to be able to continue working with her all these years. He braced himself, he knew the monologue well now, where he had been dishonest with himself, what he had said out loud paled in comparison to the lies he had told himself while walking around this place during breaks in the negotiations. He knew what he had to say, it had been running though his head for the entirety of these two weeks. "…that I'd ruin everything because I couldn't stop loving you. I'm pretty sure it was the denial that followed that got me…us into this mess. I didn't even think about it again until I was in the infirmary." He closed his eyes and lowered his head; afraid to see what she was thinking of him.

"I called you Jack, because I admitted to a hallucination I had of you, that I would give it all up for the chance to find out if what we had was really worth it."

"I'd never ask you-"

"I know, that's what your hallucination said. And, no I don't."

"Don't?"

"Love him more than I love you… Jack." She smiled.

He collapsed on the floor, "General!" Sam tried to keep him from falling, but the best she could do, was keep his head from hitting the floor. She now realized how plush the rugs were on the floor. She laid his head down and went for the door.

"Sandeen, he collapsed!"

"He is free." Sandeen said cheerfully and walked away.

"When will he wake up?" She called out after him.

"When it is time."

Sam looked around the corridor and went back in to the small room. She sat next to him for a little while and then moved to the window sill. It was beautiful outside; the lush treed forest that surrounded the temple and the mountainous range in the distance. The sky was clear and she could see the sun and three of their moons – one seemed fairly large – even in the light of day she could see them clearly. Then she remembered that this was a moon and that was the planet, from the report she had seen.

She heard Jack stir and went to his side. He grabbed at his back. "What happened?"

"You passed out."

"I did not."

"You really want to go there again?"

"Good point. I passed out…cold."

"Sandeen said you were free."

"Let's get Daniel and get out of here." She nodded in agreement. "Oh and Carter, I know this might be damn near impossible for you, but try not to think about anything until we get back home."

"Yes, Sir." She smiled.

On the way out of the building they found Sandeen, "That friend I mentioned…" Jack confessed. "That was me."

"Yes. It was not even a very good lie." Sandeen chastised.

"So, we're good?"

"We are." Sandeen confirmed.

Outside Daniel was waiting. "So did it work?"

"Carter, can you tell Daniel to go dial the gate."

"Yes, Sir." Sam smiled even wider out here, outside of the temple, but would feel better when she heard him say something back at the SGC. Daniel smiled at both of them and headed back towards the gate. Sam and Jack put their vests back on and gathered their weapons.

"All is well now." Sandeen proclaimed.

"Yeah," Jack agreed. "We have a team scheduled to start surveying your mine. We'll be back soon. Thanks, Sandeen." He explained in a hurry for the Gate.

Jack looked at Sam as they stood in front of the active wormhole, it was good to be able to talk to her. "See you on the other side, Sir." She said hesitantly.

"Yeah," he replied nervously and followed her through. 3.2 seconds later he ordered, "Carter, Daniel, report to the infirmary."

"Yes, sir." She said, happy to follow the order.

s-j-s-j-s-j

A few days later….Sam answered the door and found him standing on her doorstep.

"Sir….um," She took a deep breath, stepped out of the way and extended an invitation, "Hi, come on in."

He walked in hesitantly and while they were close in the narrow foyer. He explained, "I wanted to… I mean I thought we should-"

"Talk?" She closed the door and they stood there in hall.

He didn't want to have this conversation at the base, but didn't want the incident to just pass by either as it seemed to have many times before. "Yeah, I don't want you to feel like you…"

"What?'

"Well, like I coerced you into saying …. You know what you said. It was unfair, and I don't expect anything. I don't want you to feel awkward with me, because I…you know."

"Have I seemed awkward around you?" She didn't wait for the answer, but moved into the kitchen.

"No….no?" Jack was confused and followed her. "Nice flowers." He said referring to the flowers on her counter.

"Thanks, Daniel is concerned about our friendship. He feels really bad and is trying to make amends."

"So do I. And Teal'c, he's devastated." Jack shook his head.

She smiled. "I know. He's making me a traditional Chulak reconciliation dinner tomorrow night."

"Wow, he's never made me dinner."

"I am a little hurt that they chose you over me," she admitted sadly.

"They didn't. They were trying to protect both of us."

"That's what Daniel said."

"It's true. They wouldn't have gone through with it if they didn't believe it. They wouldn't have just done that for me. They love and respect you too much, Carter."

She nodded, wiped away a tear and tried to laugh it off. "I know…I do. It's just going to take some time."

This time Jack nodded. He looked down at the countertop. "And me?" He forced himself to look up into her eyes.

"It's going to take some time."

He nodded. Fearing he had done irreparable damage to any relationship they might have at the base level of their friendship.

"But I meant what I said," she added.

He tried to think back to what she was referring, and then he remembered the last thing he heard before he passed.

"So did I." He couldn't turn away from her eyes. In them he saw possibilities and hope…

"And, if you ever lie to me again, O'Neill-" she said stepping forward, using the most steeling and serious voice he had ever heard her use. And, he had heard her scare cadets before, but this tone really scared him.

"Yes Ma'am."

"We could start rebuilding over dinner," she said grabbing her purse.

"I'd like that."

She moved in closer, "Something light maybe, because I can't imagine what a traditional Chulak meal consist of, but I'm thinking I'm going to want to leave a lot of room for dinner tomorrow night. So, where are you taking me for dinner?" she asked touching his hand and moving in closer.

"You are gonna milk this for a long time, aren't you Carter?"

"Oh yeah! Daniel has Thursday night."

He couldn't resist, he leaned in and kissed her lightly; his hand barely touching her check …trying not to be too presumptuous.

"That was nice," she responded and he smiled. "Mosaic peanuts had sleeping monkeys," She covered her mouth and his face dropped.

"What?!" Jack exclaimed.

"Gotcha!" she said as she walked toward the door. "Come on, you're buying."


End file.
